Honoring their Lives and Legacies
Evelyn Mensah and Tami Yarbrough
Today we honor the lives of our beloved Executive Director, Evelyn Mensah and our Deputy Executive Dirctor, Tami Yarbrough, after losing both of them late last year.
Evelyn Mensah was more than a leader; she was the heart of the organization. Her unwavering faith, compassion, and dedication to service inspired everyone around her. For years, Evelyn worked tirelessly to expand opportunities for youth and adults, strengthen families, and build programs that reflect the power of hope and community. Tami Yarbrough was a force of program development, fostering the growth of AACF service offerings through her hard work in development and innovative projects for the organization.
Their shared vision and leadership transformed AACF into a place where people are seen, supported, and empowered to reach their full potential. The impact of their work will continue to be felt in the lives of those the organization has touched and in the programs they built.
As we reflect on their incredible legacy, we invite our friends, partners, and supporters to honor Evelyn and Tami’s lives by contributing to the continuation of their work. Your generosity will help sustain and grow the programs they both championed, ensuring their mission of empowerment lives on.
To make a contribution in memory of Evelyn Mensah and Tami Yarbrough, please visit: AACF Donations
African american christian foundation
A History of Service
Thirty-two years ago, Kwadwo Antwi-Mensah was a foreign student struggling to find employment while breaking cultural barriers for acceptance. The African American Christian Foundation (AACF) was born out of a dream. The founder of this organization, Dr. Kwadwo Antwi-Mensah, saw in a dream that he was sitting in a church, the church had a very beautiful choir singing beautifully and the people were dressed in colorful clothes. Ever since, there was an intense desire on the part of Dr. Antwi-Mensah to put a group together to study the Bible and also a singing group so his dream could come true.
Founded On A Dream
Acting on his dream, he called a few friends and sent out invitations for people to join him in the study of the Bible. The first meeting was held on January 5, 1985 and attended by a few Ghanaian couples. It was then, the group decided to meet once a month to engage in Bible studies, followed with educational and civic lectures by community and industry leaders. The group grew and move from Dr. Antwi-Mensah’s home to the local park district and later, to an office in Chicago on the corner of Madison and Austin Ave. AACF was incorporated as a non-profit organization in July of 1985.
Seeing A Need
Dr. Antwi-Mensah began to assist and place in jobs and internships newly immigrated Ghanaians in the Chicago land area, who were extremely educated but could not find jobs due to cultural and language barriers. For the first nine years, the foundation received no public funds, and Kwadwo continued to complete his education and do any work he could find to subsidize the work of the foundation.
In 1994
With the expertise of Dr. Clifton Woods, AACF received funding to provide job training and placement services to unemployed and low-income adults and youth in the Cook County area of the state of Illinois. Loraine Wilson-Grace became the first Program Director. Under her leadership, the organization expanded to serve the residents of Cook County. In 2010, AACF began to focus on low-income opportunity youths 16 to 24 years of age who were in need of job training and placements.
Our Accomplishments
2025 Added onsite 16-day paid Customer Service and IT Training covering: Microsoft Office Suite, Microsoft Outlook, and customer service soft skills training.
2025 Increased Youth Workshop to 16-days: job readiness training, guest speakers, and enriching field trips.
2024 Added HIV+ Housing Assistance Program.
2024 Added 8-day Youth Workshop with job readiness training, guest speakers, and enriching field trips.
2020 Added innovative virtual entrepreneurship and customer service training program.
2020 Added nationally accredited high school completion program to our academic offering.
2019 Partnered with the City of Chicago to provide workforces development and executive functional skills to targeted populations.
2018 Selected by the Illinois Department of Human Services Work First to provide training and skills participants need to gain and retain employment.
2017 Approved by the Illinois Department of Public Health to Provide CNA Training.
2012 Awarded funds by the Chicago-Cook Workforce Partnership to increase our workforce development program capacity and job training services.
2011 Received an award from the Illinois Department of Human Services to enhance our youth supportive services and expand workforce development program.
2009 Moved into our permanent headquarters in Oak Park Illinois.
2006 Awarded Community Partnership by Aspire of Illinois for teaching computers skills to Aspire clients.
2003 Certified by the Illinois State of Board of Higher Education.
2002 Awarded funds from the IT Resource Center (now Lumity) to established a community technology Center.
1995 Awarded JTPA funds to establish a workforce development program.
1985 Established and incorporated as an Illinois nonprofit organization.
Employment Services
Finding work is the crux of the AACF’s program offering. Clients are assessed and then take courses in job readiness to qualify for job training in several areas: customer service, pharmacy tech, certified nursing assistant, CDL, IT, and food service.
Self-Sufficiency
80 percent of those in the job training program secure job placement and can provide the financial foundation to support, stability, and self-sufficiency.
What Drives Us
Our Goals
AACF has become a community leader in the workforce development space in Cook County. With innovative training offerings for our program participants, they succeed in their occupations goals and prosper.
Give
AACF accepts all types of donations including in-kind. Your generous gift will help us empower the unemployed and individuals disconnected from work and school. We exist in part due to the generosity of those who have contributed to our capital campaigns and development initiatives. Gifts of any amount are welcome.